2. Legal basis
2.1 The Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003 introduced new powers to issue penalty notices to parents as an alternative to prosecution for irregular attendance into the Education Act 1996. These powers can be exercised by designated Local Authority Officers, Head Teachers (including Deputy and assistant Head Teachers nominated by them) and the police. They can only be issued in relation to pupils of compulsory school age in maintained schools, pupil referral units, academy schools, AP academies, and certain off-site places as set out in 444 A(1)(b).
2.2 The Education (Penalty Notices) (England) Regulations 2007 (and subsequent amendments) set out how penalty notices for school absence must be used. The Penalty Notice National (England) Framework 2024 and Working Together to Improve School Attendance provides further guidance on the operation of Penalty Notice schemes in England.
2.3 A penalty notice can only be issued by an authorised officer: that is, a headteacher or a deputy assistant head authorised by them, an authorised local authority officer or a police constable.
2.4 In consultation with and following agreement from schools, the administration of the penalty notice process will be undertaken by Manchester City Council, who will process penalty notice requests received from schools and the police without charge.
2.5 The authorised officer for issuing Penalty Notices is Edward Haygarth, Lead for Attendance and Exclusions, Directorate for Children and Families.
2.6 The provisions under section 444A of the Education Act 1996 applies to all parents who fall within the definition set out in Section 576 of the Education Act 1996. This defines the ‘parent’ as:
- All natural parents, whether they are married or not.
- Any person who, although they are not a natural parent, has parental responsibility (as defined in the Children Act 1989) for a child or young person.
- Any person who, although not a natural parent, has care of a child or young person. Having care of a child or young person, means that a person with whom the child lives and who looks after the child, irrespective of what their relationship is with the child, is a parent in education law.
2.7 Throughout this document, references to ‘parent’ mean each person coming within the definition, whether acting jointly or separately, and should not be taken to mean that provisions only apply to ‘parent’ in the singular.
2.8 In the supreme Court case of Isle of Wight Council (Appellant) v Platt (respondent) [2017] WLR (D) 269, [2017] 2 Cr App R 13, [2017] ELR 413, [2017] 1 WLR 1441, [2017] 3 ALL ER 623, 181 JP 237, [2017] UKSC 28, (2017) 181 JP 237), the court defined “regular attendance” as “in accordance with the rules prescribed by the school”. Manchester City Council also recognises and shares the Supreme Court’s view that a sensible approach must be taken that doesn’t result in prosecution for “a very minor or trivial breach of the law”. This code of conduct therefore aims to ensure that penalty notices are issued appropriately to address minor to medium breaches of the law.